BLACK DAWN THE ROLEPLAYING GAME THIS BOOK IS INTENDED AS A STAND ALONE PRODUCT THAT ALLOWS A COMPREHENSIVE, YET SIMPLE, ROLEPLAYING EXPERIENCE IN ANY UNIVERSE WHERE MAGICK, FASTER THAN LIGHT TRAVEL AND EXTRA TERRESTRIAL RACES COULD BE A REALITY. BLACK DAWN - Equipment [Manufacturers] CORE RULES CHARACTER GENERATION Each character has 8 main statistics, 8 secondary statistics and 4 combat statistics. The combat stats are each used in separate ways and change during the course of action, influenced by wounds and exhaustion etc. The way to generate these statistics is only dependant on the 8 primary stats. The rest are the result of an equation that usually involves only the primary statistics. The best way to generate statistics is based upon the power level of the campaign to be undertaken. This power level is an abstraction of the level of competency for the starting characters. The GM should be careful to ensure the characters can actually make it to the main gist of the campaign. Killing off characters that are „too weak‟ when you as the GM assigned their „power level‟ is bad form. When assigning power levels to the characters an amount of character-points are given with which to generate primary STATS. Remember that the human average for a primary STAT is 10. There is an exception to the secondary statistics. That is Appearance. This is purposefully left to the agreement of GM and player. A general guideline to the APP stat is to remember it should be within 5 or 6 points either side of the CHA stat. GUIDELINES TO POWER LEVELS The amount of stat points a player has at the beginning directly effects the 'power' of the character to be made. This can vary greatly. Working on the human average for prime stats being 10 if a player has 80 stat points then they can average human-average stats across the board. Using 80 stat points as a reference a group can estimate the power-level of the campaign to be undertaken. Use the charts below as a descriptive guide. For first time players I recommend making characters with 130 to no more than 150points. After a few games and the world is more developed, has some places and factions that are familiar, and the players are used to transportation and gear, try using 120 points. Starting the first game with a great deal of points will colour all future perceptions of games and what a character will (or should) be capable of. STAT Points Power level Notes Average STAT 50 Crippled A character will not even be the average specimen of 6-7 their race 80 Low The PC’s will have to suffer in one area to excel in any 10 other, or have completely average stats across the board 100 Moderate The PC’s stats will be similar to most adults of their 12-13 species 120 Above Average The PC's will have to be adaptive and ingenious to 15-16 accomplish harder tasks, but they will easily stand above the average populace in ability. 150 Heroic Characters will be able to excel in many areas and this 18-19 amount of stat points should be considered only for games where the challenges will be tough from the outset. The average citizen is a complete pushover and the PC is on par with most experts. 200 Superior The PC's are either hyper-beings, or what they will be up 25 against is extremely powerful. A mega-tough NPC should rarely have 200 pts for stats; the bulk of their power coming from high skills instead. BLACK DAWN - Equipment [Manufacturers] STATISTICS The actual mechanics of character creation in Black Dawn are point based. There are few advantages that cost points and no disadvantages that give points. All a character gets is background points to reflect some experience of the world before the campaign begins in earnest. This is to cut back on the min-max temptation that many gamers cannot resist. The GM should determine the power level he wants the characters to play at. Power level being the highest level of stats a character may start off with. He should then compare this to the skill level of the beginning characters. This can help dictate the initial stat maximums. When creating a character the points are spent one for one on each of the 8 primary stats. PRIMARY STATS The 8 primary stats are split into 4 mental stats and 4 physical stats as described in the table below. TYPE STAT Abbreviation Physical Strength ST Constitution CO Dexterity DX Mobility MO Mental Intelligence INT Psyche PSY Awareness AW Charisma CHA Statistics can generate bonuses to some actions. The bonus is equal to the STAT minus ten. PHYSICAL STATS The various physical stats make up the characters physical scope. They influence all the raw survival aspects of a character and their body. STRENGTH: [ST] Strength is a measure of ones ability to move mass and apply physical power to an object/person etc. ENC amount is the amount a character can carry in arbitrary encumbrance units of this game. For Max lift consider this to be kilograms. TYPE ENC AMOUNT/KG DURATION Pack ST+(WT/10)[WT/10 is BWT] EXH x 30 minutes Carry (ST multiplied by 3)+BWT EXH in minutes Lift (ST multiplied by 5)+BWT EXH in CR (3 sec) Max (ST multiplied by 8)+BWT EXH/3 in seconds ST is fundamental in calculating the base throwing range for a character. This is how far the character can throw an object of 1 ENC in metres. Calculation for throwing range is ST + BHT. Items that are heavier divide the throw range by their ENC rating. Throwing skill can increase the distance an object his thrown (see Skills: Combat: Thrown Weapons). Throwing Range Calculation Examples: 1) Clem has a ST of 26. His BHT is 1.83. He can throw an item of 1 ENC up to 27.8 metres. 2) Carver has a ST of 14 and his BHT is 1.88. He can throw an item of 1 ENC up to 15.8 metres. 3) Binnar has a ST of 36 and a BHT of 2.67. Binnar can throw an item of 1 ENC up to 38.6 metres. CONSTITUTION [CO]: Constitution is a measure of physical endurance and resilience. It also effects ones fitness and resistance to diseases, poisons and is used in the calculation of EXH. DEXTERITY: [DX] A measure of ones fine motor skills and eye hand co-ordination. It is not how agile or manoeuvrable one is. That is the domain of the MOBILITY stat. MOBILITY: [MO] Running, jumping, back flips etc. are covered by MO. A person with a high MO tends to have a light frame and be more adversely affected by wounds. (They have more to lose. [re: the CRT formula]) The MO stat dictates movement speeds and influences BLACK DAWN - Equipment [Manufacturers] leaping ability. RATE ACTUAL DURATION Walking MO/2 in kph EXH times 30 minutes Jogging MO in kph EXH times 10 minutes Running MO+3 in kph EXH in minutes Max MO+5 in kph 2 EXH per CR LEAPING DISTANCE Standing HT/2+(MO/10) metres Running HT/2+(MO/10) metres Sprinting HT/2+(MO/6) metres Note: To find the movement rate in meters per CR (combat round or 3 seconds) divide the movement rate expressed in kph by 1.2. MO Movement Example: 1) Tarriis Keyes has a MO of 17. He can walk at 8.5 kph and run at 20 kph. When running he can cover 17 meters in a CR (20kph divided by 1.2). Characters can sacrifice any continuous movement upon landing in place of extra distance. This means that if one was to fall over after a leap, instead of trying to land and keep running or sprinting, one may leap further. This will give at least an extra 10 percent distance. The whole process can be modified by athletics type skill tests with each point of SM adding MO in centimetres to the leapt distance. MO Leaping Example: 1) Clem has 6 levels in Athletics: Leaping, is 1.94 metres tall and has a MO of 22. Clem sprints to leap a gap of 4.5 metres, sacrificing continuous movement, and the player rolls for the Athletics skill test. The difficulty is level 12 and Clem‟s player rolls a total of 14: SM is 2. Clem‟s total leap is, 0.97(HT/2)metres + 3.6metres(MO/6) + 0.44metres(SM 2 times 22 as centimetres) = 5.01metres. Clem makes but lands unceremoniously on his behind. MENTAL STATS INTELLECT: [INT] A measure of the combined traits of general knowledge, adaptation, logic processing, abstraction, objective thought and ingenuity! (imagine each of those was a stat) PSYCHE: Is a measure of ones mental resolve, self discipline, mental focus and presence of mind. AWARENESS: [AW] The most straight-forward of the stats it represents how aware one is of their surroundings. A very high AW reflects a unification of the senses so that one sensory input is not as dominant and the other senses can be used to fill in all gaps. CHARISMA: [CHA] CHA represents a characters personality, how like-able they are, leadership ability, capability to inspire others and social graces. In general it is the ability to sway people to your wants. A character with a charisma at high levels (18+) has an „aura-of-attraction‟ that most people will respond to positively.